Students out of bed!
by Scribe-of-a-Thousand-Words
Summary: What did anyone expect when the families that had produced James Potter and the Weasley twins respectively, mixed their bloodlines? Why chaos of course!
Albus should have known it was a bad idea, but he'd let his best friend and cousin Rose talk him into it. He'd already gotten into as much trouble in his first term as the Weasley twins had in their whole first year. He blamed the Potter trouble magnet, when there were no Dark Lords around it summoned teachers instead. When faced with an irate Professor Vector he wasn't all that sure it was better.
Rose had inherited her mother's brains and her uncle's passion for mischief, so on her first day of school she had sat and read the school rules thoroughly, noting all loopholes and contradictory rules that might come in handy; hence her current idea.

They were standing outside the DADA classroom waiting for Professor Patil, and Rose was taking her chance to batter him into agreeing.  
"Come on Albus it'll be fun!"  
"That's what you said when you replaced the tickling vines with devils snare. My hand is still aching from all the lines I had to write!" He groaned shaking his hand out ineffectually.  
"It was hilarious! Besides how was I to know uncle Neville had gotten CCTV cameras to work in the grounds." Rose snapped, "it clearly states in Hogwarts a History that muggle electronic devices don't work on Hogwarts grounds!"  
"Someone could have been hurt" Albus pointed out, much like he had before the prank.  
"Uncle Neville was there nothing was going to happen." Rose waved her hand dismissively. "Now are you in or out?"  
"Fine I'm in, but only cos you shouldn't be out on your own."  
"Excellent, this is going to be so much fun!"  
"Here's yours, when you're ready just use the spell I taught you. I shrank it so it should fit in your robes pocket until you need it. Meet me in the great hall at ten!" Rose skipped into class with a carefree smile, probably already planning her next prank.  
Sometimes Albus wondered at the irony that Rose was the Gryffindor whist he was in Slytherin. Shouldn't he be the trouble maker? Well he would need to get his homework finished during lunch, he wouldn't have time later.

Albus was surprised at how simple her plan had actually been. Sneaking out of the Slytherin common room had been a piece of cake, once in the corridor reversing the shrinking charm had been trickier and had taken a few tries. Rose had thought of everything, she'd even added wheels with silencing charms so it made no sound. So he hadn't attracted Mr. Borris attention Filch's evil kitten. Before he met that cat he had thought nothing was born evil. But he'd been polishing trophies in detention with the cute little guy in the basket alone - Mrs. Norris II was off hunting - well truthfully he'd been sitting there stroking him when the kitten first opened his eyes; they shone with malevolence. His tiny kitten mouth had opened in the most vindictive grin as he yowled for Filch at the top of his tiny little lungs. Filch had caught Albus slacking and reported him, he'd gotten an extra weeks detention. They'd hated each other ever since.  
Albus was jolted from his thoughts when he realised he'd reached the great hall. Rose was waiting, like him she was sitting on a four poster bed the only difference her bed had sled rails instead of wheels.

She looked up grinning, "want to play dodgems?"  
He remembered with a shudder his trip to the fair, last time he had played dodgems he'd ended up with whiplash and a broken nose; and Rose knew that!  
"Don't look so worried Al, I put cushioning charms on the beds. It'll be fun!"

Albus would later came to realise these three little words were always followed by pain, humiliation or detentions; often all three.  
They soon recognized there was no real way to win at dodgems so after unsuccessfully trying to bash each other to the 'losing' end of the hall they gave up; instead racing each other through the halls. It was just as they skidded down the steps to the kitchen that they ran into McGonagall, literally.

She was knocked one way while the curlers from her hair went the other. All Albus could do was watch in horror as the large bowl of trifle she was carrying was knocked into the air, spinning high above them once, twice, three times before gravity took hold. Albus judged its course with the instincts of a seeker - a talent he'd inherited from his father. It would land directly in Headmistress McGonagall's face. He couldn't watch, he was going to be expelled. His mother would set her bat bogey hex on him for the rest of his sure to be short life.

With his eyes clenched tightly shut he heard Rose's gasp of shock; he was dead, if his mum didn't murder him Grandma Molly would. He started hyperventilating.

He heard professor McGonagall's voice say dryly, "Lucky for you Mr. Potter I am quite proficient with both cushioning and levitation charms, else this might have ended very differently. The murders of two first years is almost impossible to keep out the papers these days, especially ones with such prominent families, though I'm sure I would have managed somehow"  
Opening his eyes in horror Albus saw professor McGonagall completely unharmed, laughter in her eyes. The trifle still sat harmlessly in its bowl, floating two feet from the ground. "I've fought death eaters, faced a Hogwarts high inquisitor and lived through the Weasley twins and marauders. Did you really think a bed equipped with cushioning charms could take me down?"  
"I... I... Professor"  
"I think what my cousin is trying to say," Rose cut in, "is that we never had the slightest doubt in your ability to handle any and all situations."  
"And what may I ask are you both doing breaking school rules, yet again I might add" McGonagall questioned her lips pursed in a disapproving frown.  
"Actually Professor if you read this essay I prepared, it quotes directly from Hogwarts rules, which state that a student may not be out of bed after curfew, which we in fact are not." She gestured to the four poster beds beneath her and Albus, as she rolled forward handing the Headmistress a roll of parchment.  
"And what of your use of magic in the corridors?"  
"We haven't used any magic professor," Rose pointedly avoided telling her of the enlargement charms they'd used to return the beds to their proper sizes. "spells are forbidden in the corridors, magical objects are not otherwise we would be unable to carry wands between lessons."  
"And your assault of a teacher?"  
"Actually Professor it was the bed that hit you, and being an inanimate object it can bear no responsibility for its actions, nor can we as we had no plans to bump into you, especially not literally. So there was no malice or intent on our part that in fact this could be labelled at worst a noise disturbance after curfew, for which the punishment is registered at five house points apiece "  
"Indeed Miss Weasley well that will be five points from Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively. Now back to your dormitories and don't let me catch you out after curfew again. At least for another week!" As she walked away she called over her shoulder. "And ten points to Gryffindor for a well researched and persuasive argument!"

Little known to the students of Hogwarts, more than a century before the position of school head had been jinxed, much like the DADA Professorship. The prankster had tied the spell into Hogwarts own magic, so even when he passed away the spell didn't fade. And since that day every Headmaster/mistress had enjoyed all pranks played within Hogwarts immensely. Which begs the question, how tormented had Professor Snape been by his sudden love of pranks?

 **If anyone has an idea or prompt for a story feel free the leave it in a review or PM me. ~ Scribe**


End file.
